Euphoria
by minachandler
Summary: "If I could figure out how to get this thing off," said Felicity, barely able to hear herself over the adrenaline pounding in her ears, "I would be kissing you right now." Set during 3x23. After Felicity saves Oliver using Ray's ATOM suit, they finally find a moment in all the madness to talk.


"If I could figure out how to get this thing off," said Felicity, barely able to hear herself over the adrenaline pounding in her ears, "I would be kissing you right now."

Oliver burst out laughing, looking every bit as winded and disoriented as she felt (well, what did she expect? He had just been shot – not for the first time, sure, but still at least several times over – and she had just carried him while flying, definitely for the first time, in a supersuit she had never worn before). And yet, despite this, there was a euphoria about him that made it impossible for Felicity not to smile back.

Before she could say anything more, though, she jumped at Ray's voice in her ear.

"Is he all right?"

"Yeah, I think so," she said, still smiling at Oliver and not really registering the way he was coughing a little now. She twisted round, her gaze momentarily moving off Oliver, long enough to take off the helmet.

"I'm glad to hear it," said Ray, and he sounded genuinely relieved. "It's the smallest button on the centre of your chest, just so you know."

And with that, his voice shorted out as he must have disconnected the comm. Felicity pressed the button as directed, and to her relief, the suit opened. But as she turned back to Oliver, her heart dropped to her stomach – in the few seconds she had taken her eyes off him, he had collapsed and was lying in a heap on the ground.

"No, no, no, no, no!" As quickly as she could, she took off the ATOM suit and stepped out of it, freeing herself of the heavy armour so she could kneel down in front of him. Hands scrabbling on his neck for a pulse, Felicity's own heartbeat rocketed and only slowed a tiny amount when she found it at last. She breathed heavily, not letting go of the spot where she could feel the dull, regular throb beneath her fingers.

So he was alive, at least. She looked down to his chest. There were several bullets embedded in the thick armour, but there was no blood, and silently, Felicity thanked God that the League of Assassins, however backward and crazy, at least recognised the benefits of Kevlar.

Now, assured he was indeed not bleeding, Felicity cradled his cheek with her free hand, praying for him to regain consciousness. And somehow, miraculously, his eyes started flickering at her touch.

"Oliver," Felicity said softly, "Oliver… can you hear me?"

"Yeah," he said, and his voice was weak but audible. "Yeah, I can – Felicity…" Oliver tried to get up, but she didn't let him, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"Stay there," she ordered. "And please, for the love of all things holy, don't ever do that to me again."

And in spite of the pain he was evidently in, Oliver chuckled. "Okay," he said. "Understood." After a moment, he looked past her. "My foot's twitching."

His foot was indeed quivering. Immediately, Felicity put her hand on his leg, momentarily stilling it.

"It's okay," she murmured. "Probably just the adrenaline. It should wear off. What matters is that you're alive."

"Because of you," he said, lifting his hand to her face. He dragged his thumb along the edge of her cheek. "I love you."

That was all it took for Felicity to lean down and kiss him. His lips were soft, softer than she remembered from their time together in Nanda Parbat (or in the beautiful but tortuous dreams of him that had haunted her since), and the prickle of his stubble as it grazed her skin was so wonderfully comforting.

It was clear Oliver was getting breathless, though, so she moved away after a moment, still resting her forehead against his. "I love you too."

They shared a smile, and Oliver was still touching her cheek, gazing up at her reverently. Felicity reached down, making to take his other hand, but she realised then his palm was wet.

"You're bleeding," she said, but the smile didn't leave his face.

"I don't need to be told that." Felicity shook her head in mild exasperation, watching as he rummaged around in his pockets, eventually producing a black handkerchief. But before he could tie it around his hand, she gently placed her hand on his wrist. "Let me?"

Instantly, Oliver's grip loosened, and he wordlessly allowed Felicity to tie the makeshift bandage over the weeping cut on his palm. She managed to staunch the bleeding, and she could see Oliver was visibly in less pain as she did so.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"How did that happen, anyway? It seems pretty deep."

"It was when I…" He trailed off, and when he spoke again, his voice was suddenly hollow. "It was just before I killed Ra's."

"Good," she said firmly, and Oliver raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I'm serious. You did what you had to, Oliver, for the good of the city."

She watched as he seemed to digest this in silence. After a moment, and grunting with effort, Oliver managed to sit up, and he leaned on her shoulder for support. He was heavy enough as it was and even more so in his League of Assassins gear, but Felicity didn't care. She bore his weight willingly, hugging his arm fiercely in return. He appeared comforted by her touch, because at last, he spoke again.

"What about the bioweapon?"

"All taken care of, thanks to John. And Laurel." Felicity coughed and stiffened. "And, obviously, your new wife."

"Felicity…"

"It's okay," she lied, even though it was anything but.

"No, it's not," he said firmly, and – still breathing heavily – he moved away from her, managing to sit unsupported now. For a moment, there was silence as he took off his League armour, revealing a black shirt underneath, and set it aside before placing his hand on her arm. "And I'm sorry."

She forced herself to shrug. "It's not like you cheated or anything. Although it depends on if you thought we were together for it to count as cheating, and we were never properly together, technically – at least, most people wouldn't see one night of sex as equalling a proper relationship, so even if you had, you know, done stuff with her – although it would be a bit weird because you've both been with the same woman and everything –"

"Felicity," Oliver said again, and his eyes had closed midway through her babbling but they opened again now, meeting hers, "it did matter. I never – me marrying Nyssa was never part of the plan. I thought it would take me months to infiltrate the League, and even then, I didn't think I would have to marry Ra's' daughter to convince him of my loyalty."

"You had to go along with it for your plan's sake," she said, pulling her hand away from his. "I get it."

"I'm sorry," he repeated, and after a moment, he extended his hand towards hers again and she could feel his fingers flutter tentatively against her wrist. "I'm so, so, sorry. Especially because after… _that_ happened in Nanda Parbat…" He paused, watching her hopefully, and she couldn't stop smiling at his choice of words, before continuing, "In my head, we were always together. Even… especially when we were apart."

Automatically, Felicity found herself softening when he said that. "I thought that too," she said, and she sighed when he ran his thumb along the vein on the inside of her wrist. "At least… until I found out about the whole marriage thing."

"So… I'm guessing that means we can't do 'what happens in Nanda Parbat stays in Nanda Parbat'?"

She shook her head, a mock-stern expression on her face but unable to stop the smile spreading on her lips. "No," she said. "Because that would also mean erasing what is still – despite everything that happened afterwards – the best night of my life. And that is not something I would ever be prepared to do."

And when he gazed at her (for once, the usual difference in their heights wasn't felt because they were both sitting – rather uncomfortably, Felicity was starting to realise – on the ground still), it was with that same speechless disbelief she remembered seeing in his eyes when she had finally told him she loved him. It was like he was truly and utterly rendered lost for words, just by her words, and exactly like in that candlelit room in Nanda Parbat, Oliver's lips were almost instantly on hers and his hands were light on her back. Felicity could feel him sigh against her mouth.

"I don't think that means I'm forgiven, though, am I?" Oliver murmured after a moment.

"Not exactly," Felicity said, and she wished it wasn't so easy to give into that stupid hopeful expression on his face despite the words she was uttering. "You have a lot of grovelling to do."

"I know –"

"I mean, on your knees grovelling," she added, interrupting him, and she didn't realise immediately what she had implied by that until she saw the sudden hungry warmth in Oliver's eyes.

"I promise I am more than happy to do that for as long as you want." And this time, Felicity kissed him, assured as much by the smile she could taste in his lips as the promise he had just made.

It didn't take long, however, for her to feel pins and needles in her feet, and soon, she pulled away and stood up, with some difficulty, before offering her hand to Oliver. He smiled up at her, still with a slightly dazed expression on his face – she didn't know if it was from their kiss or the fact that he had been shot several times in the chest not ten minutes ago – and took her hand, allowing her to help him to his feet. It surprised her that he only wobbled momentarily, just for a few seconds, before standing quite steadily on his own.

"Can you walk?" Felicity asked, and Oliver answered by taking a few steps in the direction of Palmer Tech. He was slow, though, much slower than usual, and she wrapped her arm around his waist to support him anyway. It was easier for him that way, even if it was a mission bearing Oliver's heavy weight.

"Do you know who shot me?" he asked.

"According to Captain Lance, it was the police," she said. "He called me, told me you were in trouble."

She could feel him sigh against her. "That's how you found me. Even though, last time I checked," Oliver added as an afterthought, "you hated heights."

"I still do," Felicity said truthfully. "But I figured I'd jumped out of a plane for you before and lived. So, you know, flying a supersuit wasn't much of a stretch. Especially since Ray was behind the wheel, technically."

Oliver nodded. "Right."

"Besides," she said meaningfully, "I knew I would do anything to make sure I didn't lose you again."

She buried her face in his arm as he squeezed her waist. "That makes two of us," he said, and seconds later, Felicity could feel him press a kiss on the top of her head. When she felt his lips touch her hair, that warm, lightheaded feeling of euphoria washed over her again and made her dizzy.

They were lucky. Ray had directed the ATOM suit to land fairly close to Palmer Tech and they were now only a few blocks away. The streets were quiet, mostly. Still, Oliver was still leaning on Felicity a fair amount as they turned a corner and walked towards the building, which was now in sight.

"Do you know if Thea's okay?" Oliver asked suddenly, breaking the companionable silence that had fallen between them. For several moments, Felicity didn't say anything, and Oliver seemed to realise, too, stopping in his tracks and raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"Yeah… about Thea – there's something I need to tell you," she began, and immediately, at the look on his face, Felicity hastened to add, "No, it's nothing bad. Although that obviously depends on your definition of bad, really, but she's fine, or at least she should be, and she is, last time I checked –"

"Felicity," Oliver said patiently, "what is it?"

But still, she hesitated. "John was the one who found the first bioweapon. It was a member of the League."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know. So?"

"The guy almost killed John, but… Thea saved him." She was trying to pick her words carefully, but Oliver's eyebrows were still raised questioningly. "With arrows."

"Oh." Felicity watched carefully for his reaction, but his expression was unreadable.

"It seems archery runs in the family," Felicity offered, and the corners of his mouth twitched into something close to a smile. Encouraged by this, she went on, "She was wearing Roy's Arsenal gear, apparently."

"Seems like you're not the only one borrowing someone's suit," Oliver replied lightly, and they continued walking, mere paces away from the doors to Palmer Technologies now.

"I don't think she wanted to borrow it," she said unnecessarily.

He tried to laugh it off. "I figured as much."

But Felicity looked up at him now, just as they went through the doors, her face serious. "Oliver… if you think she'll listen to you telling her it's too dangerous, or that she should be resting, or whatever, you're wrong. I've gotten to know her a bit better over the last few weeks, and one thing I can say is that she is every bit as stubborn as you once she's made her mind up."

This time, Oliver's smile was warmer. He didn't say anything at first, instead calling the elevator. Only when they both stepped inside and Felicity had pressed the button for their floor did he speak.

"You're not wrong there."

"I'm just saying…" she started, but she trailed off, and when she did, Oliver reached down and held her hand in his.

"What are you saying?" he asked softly. She squeezed back.

"Just… I get that you're used to being a lone warrior and all that. But things are different now. Thea is too. And maybe," said Felicity, stepping towards the doors just before they opened and still holding Oliver's hand, "you need to realise that when it comes to protecting this city – our city – you are so much better off not being alone."

She felt him sigh, and Felicity turned to meet his eyes. He smiled. "You're right."

"I usually am," she replied cheerfully, but anything else she wanted to say was lost in a sudden flurry of voices as Thea, Laurel, Nyssa and Ray emerged from Ray's office (which had since become Team Arrow's foundry substitute) and surrounded them both.

Yet as Oliver assured each of them that he was okay, that they were okay, and as Felicity apologetically told Ray that his suit was lying abandoned on the ground several blocks away from them, she could tell that Oliver had taken her words to heart.

Like he always did.


End file.
